Senegal closes border to block entry of Ebola virus

The deadliest outbreak of the Ebola virus in seven years has killed 70 people and infected as many as 111 in Guinea, causing neighboring Senegal to close its border with the country.

The deadliest outbreak of the Ebola virus in seven years has killed 70 people and infected as many as 111 in Guinea, causing neighboring Senegal to close its border with the country.

Senegalís Ministry of Interior has ordered all movements of people through the southern boundary to Guinea suspended indefinitely to prevent the spread of the disease, according to a statement published yesterday by the state-run press agency, APS.

Most of the cases detected in Guinea since January have been in the towns of Guekedou, Macenta, Kissidougou and Dabola, the countryís Health Ministry said in an emailed statement on Friday.

There has been one death among eight cases of the infectious disease in the capital, Conakry, the statement said.

The outbreak is the deadliest since 2007, when 187 people died of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the World Health Organizationís website.

Health authorities in bordering Sierra Leone and Liberia are investigating the deaths of people who had symptoms typical of Ebola.